Happy birthday to me

If you hadn't guessed by the title...my birthday has come and gone with only marginal fanfare. Although my birthday was on Monday, I broke the rules and brought out a 'Sunday' wine that I had recieved from Wine Selectors a few months ago - a 2005 Petersons 'Back Block' Hunter Valley Shiraz. Hey...it was my birthday after all. We enjoyed this wine alongside a hearty italian dinner at Amici in Camberwell, which is always a treat (although we have recently had some mixed experiences there...).

This was typical Hunter Valley, very earthy, but with a nice bit of pepper/spice to it that reminded me a bit more of a Heathcote Shiraz. It is still a little young with the Hunter earthiness overpowering the fruit flavours, but as our cellar is in Sydney and we're in Melbourne, we have no choice but to follow the youth movement until we build up the collection again.

The best thing about it was that it was better the next day. A recommendation I took away from the guys at Winorama. If you ever have a wine that is anti-social and refuses to open up...put the cork back in, put it in the fridge overnight, and decant it the next day. Naturally this won't work if the wine is actually off or is just bad wine, but don't give up immediately. I've found this with a few of the big reds we've opened in the past.

Heavy price tag at $50, but not a disappointment. All up, a solid wine.